Newsletter of the
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM
Volume 17, Number 11 --- 15 November 2015
Website: iefworld.org
Article submission: newsletter@iefworld.org
Deadline next issue 13 December 2015
Secretariat Email: ief@iefworld.org General Secretary Emily Firth
Postal address: 12B Chemin de Maisonneuve, CH-1219 Chatelaine, Geneva, Switzerland
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From the Editor, Request for information for upcoming newsletters
This newsletter is an opportunity for IEF members to share their experiences, activities, and initiatives that are taking place at the community level on environment, climate change and sustainability. All members are welcome to contribute information about related activities, upcoming conferences, news from like-minded organizations, recommended websites, book reviews, etc. Please send information to newsletter@iefworld.org.
Please share the Leaves newsletter and IEF membership information with family, friends and associates, and encourage interested persons to consider becoming a member of the IEF.
IEF events at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December
Governments are meeting soon in Paris at the largest United Nations Climate Change Conference in history to adopt a legally-binding agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, and thus hopefully to save the world from a disastrous future. The official conference web site of the French Government is at http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en, and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has its conference web site at http://unfccc.int/meetings/paris_nov_2015/meeting/8926.php. Documentation about the conference is available there.
The International Environment Forum is actively contributing to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) at Le Bourget in Paris on 30 November-11 December 2015. The IEF is organizing three events in the Climate Generations area for civil society, and co-sponsoring a side event at the intergovernmental conference. The Baha'i International Community is partnering in a side event on ethics at the intergovernmental conference. Details on these events will be provided on the IEF web page dedicated to the conference (https://iefworld.org/cop21), and reports will be posted there during and after the conference. At least 40,000 people are expected to attend the conference and its associated events.
At least 10 IEF members will be part of our team in Paris, including Peter Adriance (USA), Arthur Dahl (Switzerland), Alessia Freddo (Italy/UK), Minu Hemmati (Germany), Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen (Netherlands), Janot Mendler de Suarez (USA), Temily Tavangar (Hong Kong), Victoria Thoresen (Norway), Ismael Velasco (United Kingdom), and Onno Vinkhuyzen (Netherlands).
The events are as follows:
Community resilience in the face of climate-driven extreme events, a Vanuatu case study
La résilience communautaire face aux événements climatiques extrêmes: une étude de cas à Vanuatu
Resiliencia comunitaria en la cara de los eventos extremos del clima impulsado: un estudio de caso de Vanuatu
Saturday 5 December, 13:45-15:15 in Room 8, Climate Generations Area
Climate change adaptation requires increased resilience at the community level, and this workshop will use a case study of the Baha'i community on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, hit by Cyclone Pam in March 2015, to discuss tools for building social cohesion at the rural village level, and more broadly in communities and neighbourhoods that are vulnerable to extreme climate events.
Speakers:
Dr. Arthur Dahl, former Coordinator, South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, and advisor to the Government of Vanuatu
Dr. Janot Mendler de Suarez, Technical Advisor, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Dr. Serik Tokbolat, Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, New York Office
Temily Tavangar, Hong Kong University
Principles for accountability for climate change agreements
Principes de responsabilité pour les accords sur le changement climatique
Principios de la responsabilidad para los acuerdos sobre el cambio climático
Thursday 10 December, 13h45-15h15 in Room 8, Climate Generations Area
Signing an agreement is only the first step in going from policy to action. Experience is now showing that agreements need to be accompanied by processes within a well established governance framework to hold parties accountable for implementing the commitments made and decisions taken. Accountability can take various forms, internal or external, by peers or the general public, with statistics or qualitative measures, with different levels of effectiveness. This workshop will explore the challenges of accountability in international governance in general and for the Paris outcomes in particular, and encourage all those present to consider the accountability mechanisms relevant to their own situations, including for governments, communities, the public, the media, and civil society organizations.
Speakers:
Prof. Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, Public Administration and Policy Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands
Dr. Arthur Dahl, International Environment Forum, Switzerland, and retired senior UNEP official
Prof. Victoria Thoresen, Hedmark University College, Norway, and UNESCO Chair for Education about Sustainable Lifestyles
Dr. Mojgan Sami, University of California Irvine Sustainability Initiative, USA
Sébastien Duyck, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, Finland
Values-based climate change education
Education pour le changement climatique sur la base des valeurs
Educación para el cambio climático basada en los valores
Friday 11 December, 11:30-13:00, in Room 9, Climate Generations Area
Values-based education for responsible living can motivate adjustments in mindsets and behavior individually and in communities. This workshop will introduce approaches to values-based education developed by EU-funded research and networks, including toolkits for use in secondary schools. One example is on-line and community interfaith courses on the scientific and spiritual dimensions of climate change, for which course materials are freely available in both English and French. These demonstrate the potential of interfaith approaches to climate change education.
Speakers:
Prof. Victoria Thoresen, Hedmark University College, Norway, Director of the Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL) and UNESCO Chair for Education about Sustainable Lifestyles
Dr. Arthur Dahl, President, International Environment Forum, Switzerland, and partner in EU-funded project on Values-based Indicators of Education for Sustainable Development
Peter Adriance, Representative for Sustainable Development, U.S. Baha'i Office of Public Affairs
Ismael Velasco, Adora Foundation, United Kingdom
IEF is also co-sponsoring a side event on Accountability after Paris in the Dutch Pavilion at the intergovernmental conference on Wednesday 9 December, 14:00-15:30. This is being organized by IEF board member Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen. More details will be available later.
The Baha'i International Community is co-sponsoring a side event in the intergovernmental conference on "Equity and Justice in INDCs" on Saturday 5 December, 16:45-18:15, with IEF board member Peter Adriance participating.
In addition, IEF board member Peter Adriance will be an official Baha'i delegate for the two weeks of the intergovernmental conference, with Serik Tokbolat of the Baha'i International Community as the second delegate for the first week and IEF president Arthur Dahl replacing him for the second week.
New Baha'i International Community Statements
The Baha'i International Community (BIC) United Nations Office has issued two new statements on the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. Although they are addressed to two different audiences, some sections are common to the two statements.
On 8-9 September 2015, the BIC participated with other religious groups in the Faith in the Future event organized by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and UNDP to launch Faith Plans for a Sustainable Future in Bristol, UK. The Baha'i statement presented there is "Baha'i International Community Engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals". These Bristol Commitments have been published by ARC in a book, Faith in the Future: The Bristol Commitments, Faith Plans for a Sustainable Future, launched 8th September 2015 in response to the Sustainable Development Goals to be adopted in New York, September 2015. (Bath, UK: Alliance of Religions and Conservation). See more information from the Baha'i World News Service at http://news.bahai.org/story/1067.
On 13 October, the BIC issued "Summoning Our Common Will: A Baha’i Contribution to the United Nations Global Development Agenda" addressed more generally to the United Nations and the international community. Both statements reflect the approach of the Baha'is as a learning community trying to build more just and sustainable communities at the grass roots. They emphasize that people are the real protagonists of development, so it is essential to address the roots of motivation and to build communities of practice in which continuous learning can take place from the local to the global levels. See also the Baha'i World News Service story at http://news.bahai.org/story/1074.
These statements are now available on the IEF web site:
Baha'i International Community Engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals
Summoning Our Common Will: A Baha’i Contribution to the United Nations Global Development Agenda
“Summoning Our Common Will" is a Baha'i contribution to Agenda 2030, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
http://news.bahai.org/story/1074. 15 October 2015
NEW YORK — The collective ability of the people of the world to willfully work towards their own development will be crucial in implementing major UN goals, the Baha'i International Community (BIC) says. That is the theme of a new BIC statement released this week which seeks to offer a contribution to Agenda 2030.
The sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly last month for achievement by 2030 include calls to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere", "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls", and "promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth".
The BIC praised the process by which the UN crafted the goals, noting that it involved input from eight million people in more than 193 countries, representing "the largest consultation ever conducted by the UN". "People are at the center of Agenda 2030, and this is a major victory," says the statement, entitled "Summoning Our Common Will".
"But care must be taken lest people be treated primarily as passive objects to be developed, rather than as protagonists of development in and of themselves. The ability of people, individually and as members of communities and institutions, to achieve something they collectively value is therefore an indispensable means of achieving lasting progress."
The statement offers the experience of the worldwide Baha'i community as an example of one group that is "striving to learn about the tangible development of their neighborhoods, villages, and communities". "To the extent that this experience can contribute to development efforts benefitting the whole of society, in keeping with the cardinal principle of the oneness of humankind, we are happy to offer it for exploration and conversation." "Consciousness of the oneness of humankind must be the bedrock of any strategy that seeks to engage the world's population in assuming responsibility for its collective destiny," the statement says.
Summoning Our Common Will: A Baha’i Contribution to the United Nations Global Development Agenda
13 October 2015, New York